'Retrospect' about the events that led to the present pattern of life in the United States. Host Douglas Edwards, an American television anchor speaks about the past events in America. Crowd of unemployed men gathering in bread lines after the 1929 crash and subsequent Great Depression. A man near a box of apples. The U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses a gathering. The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the son of the aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1932. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a German carpenter who abducted the child during the trial. The congressmen at the formation of the Lindbergh Law. Newspapers describe the apprehension or death of notorious mafia gangster criminals, such as Dutch Schultz and Baby Face Nelson. Huey Pierce Long, Jr. a American politician addresses people. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia appeals to the League of Nations, after his country is attacked by Italy under Mussolini. Adolf Hitler stands. Troops of the German army parade. Scenes from the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1937 as Spanish national forces battle against fascist rebel forces. Spanish Troops fire 75mm field artillery pieces. Bombs being dropped on the buildings. Spanish soldiers marching during the civil war. The Hindenburg disaster takes place on May 6th 1937: The German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg catches fire over the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester, New Jersey. Amelia Earhart the first woman aviator to fly solo holds flowers and is surrounded by people. She went missing in 1937. Cowboy philosopher Will Rogers, alone and with U.S. Vice President John Nance Garner and with aviator Wiley Post (who had patch over one eye). King Edward VIII of Great Britain, abdicating the throne for "the woman I love." People at the German-American Bund Nazi sympathizing gathering including the subduing of objectors on stage, in Madison Square Garden, New York. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, returning from meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938. View of Adolf Hitler. German tanks on parade in World War II. an array of artillery guns on display. Railway guns being fired in WW2.

Crash of Hindenburg Zeppelin (airship) at Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst in New Jersey, United States. Hindenburg Zeppelin (airship) in flight to New Jersey. Hindenburg come in for landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Crew makes preparation for landing on the ground. Landing lines are dropped form the Hindenburg. Hindenburg Zeppelin bursts into flames and falls to earth. Large smoke rises. Firefighters battle the flames. Remains of worlds largest airship. Ruins of Hindenburg after flames have been extinguished. Wreckage of engines of the large Zeppelin. Nose of the Zeppelin.

USS Akron (ZRS-4), helium filled zeppelin dirigible, moors at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey, United States. USS Akron in flight. The airship grounded. People stand near the grounded airship. The airship leaves the mooring mast. It takes off. A flag at the belly of the ship.

Consolidated N2Y-1 airplane tries to hook-on to USS Akron (ZRS-4) Zeppelin dirigible at Lakehurst, New Jersey in the United States. USS Akron in flight. The Consolidated N2Y-1 flies under the airship and maneuvers in attempts to hook on to the USS Akron.

USS Akron (ZRS-4), helium filled American-made rigid type Dirigible, at Lakehurst Naval Station, New Jersey, in the United States. USS Akron on the landing field. Sailors work near the airship. The airship is moved by a mobile mooring mast and it's stern beam, prominent in this film clip, in preparation for flight. The stern bumper seen being carried by sailors will be attached to the lower fin where the stern beam has been removed to the right, starboard.

German zeppelin Hindenburg (D-LZ129) flies over New York City. Manhattan skyscraper buildings seen below. explodes over Lakehurst, New Jersey. Hindenburg hovers over destination, Lakehurst., New Jersey. Passengers watch from Hindenburg windows.Hindenburg crashes in flames and settles to earth. Men run towards the burning zeppelin to assist survivors. Smoke rises. Men stand around remains of the zeppelin.